Strengths and weaknesses

Will you double down on your strengths—or upskill your weaknesses?

If you keep sharpening your strengths until you master them, how can you be sure you won’t start seeing every problem as a nail just because you’re holding a hammer? But if you focus only on improving your weaknesses, how can you be sure it’s not like racing a monkey up a tree?

We shouldn’t choose between strengths or weaknesses—we should choose what’s fun. We should develop what we enjoy doing. At first, that might happen to be a strength or a weakness; it doesn’t matter. When we enjoy something, we do it longer. And when we do it long enough, we get good at it. No one needs to be an expert—or have fun—in just one thing.

As a designer, I see skills as a toolbox, not a single tool. I take care of the toolbox I already have while collecting new tools along the way. When the box gets full, I take out old tools I no longer use—or I buy a bigger box.

To answer my question: I’m not trying to perfect my strengths or fix my weaknesses. I’m simply collecting the things I enjoy doing—and I’m excited to see how these tools will compound into something new I can use to explore the unknown.

And to double down on that: life always throws new tools at you through unexpected opportunities—embrace the ambiguity.